When will they ever learn? And why is yours truly lambasted (not necessarily critiqued) for thoughts, beliefs or assertions that ultimately ring true as time goes on? "What is he talking about now?”-you may ask. Well I just found out about a noose hoax story that occurred in Baltimore recently that begs for analysis. I have stated in print as well as our live podcast that the rash of noose discovery stories possessed a college prank nature to them. This is not to obfuscate the heinous inference that nooses engender but we must not fall prey to those (regardless of their color or ethnicity) who just want to raise the ire of people of color for the sake of manipulation. After the Jena 6 case, the media appeared to focus their attention on any case that vaguely possessed a racial and/or noose angle. Now we have a case of a Baltimore fireman who sought to bring forward racial charges against his city’s bureaucracy when upon further investigation, it was he who concocted this scheme in the first place. Check out an excerpt from the Baltimore Sun regarding this issue:
Fireman in noose case to be fired
Discipline unrelated to fabricated story
By Stephen Kiehl | Sun reporter
December 4, 2007
The firefighter who reported finding a knotted rope and a drawing of a noose in an East Baltimore station house is in the process of being fired for unrelated issues, Fire Department officials said yesterday.
Donald Maynard, a six-year veteran who reported the discoveries, acknowledged last week that he was the one who brought the items into the station house.
Even before that admission, Maynard, who is black, had been suspended without pay for failing to complete emergency medical technician-intermediate training or making any plans to do so, said Roman Clark, a department spokesman.
The note Maynard said he found Nov. 21 read: "We cant hang the cheaters but we can hang the failures. NO EMT-I, NO JOB."
Officials said Maynard had until Nov. 30 to complete EMT training.
The purported finding of the rope and note set off a new round of racial tension within the department, already under criticism for race-related hiring and promotion issues. After news of the incident was reported, cars stopped at Maynard's station house and drivers made threatening remarks to members, a firefighters union leader said.
"They were afraid for their own safety," said Richard G. Schluderberg, president of Baltimore Fire Fighters Local 734. "Any time you make false racial allegations, I think it does more to harm racial relations."
Maynard's official status is now "suspended pending termination." The Fire Department will make its case for termination at an administrative hearing. No date has been set.
The incident comes at the end of a difficult year for the city Fire Department. A cadet died during a fire training exercise that was found to have violated dozens of national safety standards. The department was investigated internally for an off-the-books account that was used to purchase equipment, circumventing the city's purchasing requirements.
The chief announced his resignation last month, effective at the end of the year, saying the questions surrounding the death of the recruit were proving to be too much of a distraction to the department.
Unfortunately, the above article did not cover the NAACP's initial involvement and their refusal to apologize for fomenting the "rush to judgment" atmosphere in this matter. And this is the crux of my argument relating to some of the more recent racial dynamic cases; it appears that the story is more important than getting to the truth. It's time to allow for an investigation of these issues to take place first and then if they are valid, then heads should roll. But I suspect that we will see more claims that substantiate the old adage that the first casualty of war is truth.
For the article in its entirety, click on the link below:
Fireman in noose case to be fired
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